Event
MSE Seminar: Dr. Luis Rodriguez de Marcos, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center and Catholic University
Wednesday, November 2, 2022
3:30 p.m.
3117 Computer Science Instructional Center (CSI) Bldg #406
Sherri Tatum
301 405 5240
statum12@umd.edu
Introduction to Optical Coatings and Applications
ABSTRACT: Optical coatings are combinations of thin film layers that modify the transmission or reflection properties of substrates in optical systems. Although we barely notice it, optical coatings are everywhere today and have a tremendous impact on our daily lives as they are essential components of modern optical systems. In this (equation-free!) presentation, I will quickly review the early modern history of optical coatings, from the pioneering work in the XIX century to its boom during WW2. Next, we will analyze the state-of-the-art of reflective coatings in a wide spectral range, from the infrared to the x-rays, commenting on key advances made over the last decades. Finally, we will see why the development of new coatings has been an enabling technology for two important applications: space astronomy and modern photolithography systems. From a more personal point of view, I will comment on my past experiences working in this field in four different countries (on three different continents).
BIO: Dr. Luis Rodriguez de Marcos received his Theoretical Physics degree (2008) and his master’s degree in Mathematical-Physics (2010) from Universidad Complutense de Madrid, in Spain. During his PhD with the coatings group at the Spanish Research Council (CSIC), he worked on the determination of optical properties of materials and in the development of optical coatings for the far UV (FUV) and extreme UV (EUV). He completed his PhD in 2015 and then he moved to Singapore in 2016 where he joined the Singapore Synchrotron Light Source as a beamline scientist. There, aside from working happily 23h per day on the EUV characterization of mask blanks for the next generation of photolithography systems, he found some free time to play with the use of metamaterials in optics, and play soccer, his great passion. After a short stay at the Tohoku University (Japan) early in 2019, where aside from eating tons of Sushi he did a small research on gratings for X-rays interferometry, Luis joined The Catholic University of America in April 2019 as an assistant scientist. He is nowadays supporting the coatings laboratory (code 551) at GSFC, and his research efforts are motivated to increase the eflectivity
